While forex rates advanced at the end of last week, the trend paused on Saturday apparently due to unexpected political developments and cautious optimism.
The market was relatively stable in the previous week after the Central Bank of Iran tried to restore some calm.
The dollar was quoted at 318,000 rials, down from the historic high of 333,000 rials on June 12.
The greenback rallied in the past two sessions last week buying 320,000 rials on Thursday but retreated to 317,500 rials as of Saturday in Tehran’s unofficial market.
Reports about the likelihood of resuming the stalled talks to restore Iran’s nuclear deal apparently impacted currency trade and weakened the sentiments of currency dealers and middlemen.
The European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell met with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Saturday in Tehran to discuss ways to kick-start the difficult nuclear negotiations.
At a press conference later in the day both sides said the talks would within a few days.
The currency market has been highly sensitive to reports and rumors about the nuclear talks. Observers expect a weaker dollar if the US rejoins the historic 2015 nuclear agreement and ends the tough economic and financial restrictions.
The greenback gained more than 9% in recent weeks, triggered in part by rising inflation expectations among the public after the government stopped allocating subsidized currency for importing basic goods.
Struggling to control the volatility, the central bank again intervened and tried to boost forex supply by allowing non-oil exporters to sell their overseas revenue at higher rates.
In the official market the dollar is usually traded much lower than in the open market. In the regulated market the greenback was tagged at 275,900 rials on Saturday, indicating a subtle rise of 0.05% rise on the earlier session.
The market is a CBI-affiliated spot market operated by a network of banks and certified moneychangers dealing in wholesale currency.
Currency prices in the exchange bureaus affiliated to the CBI dropped on Saturday. The Melli Exchange quoted a dollar at 277,070 rials, down 0.05% from the session before.
As anticipated, the domestic gold market followed suit on Saturday wiping out some previous gains. The Emami gold coin was traded at 153.4 million rials, which was 1.3% or 2 million rials lower than the closing price on Thursday.
The Half-Bahar Azadi coin lost almost 1% or 800,000 rials to change hands for 84.5 million rials and one gram of 18-karat gold was down 2.2% at 14.12 million rials.
